John’s Story

MY Passion

I am an intense guy! Whether it be playing sports, eating lunch, running an Iron Man, or cheering on my Tigers. Action brings me to life. I am passionate about my beautiful wife Amy, my kids, and my church. After Jesus captured my attention in 9th grade my life has never been the same. Enjoying the Lord and responding to His call is what has shaped the last 35 years of my life.

Now I live in Columbia, MO where I have raised my four kids and pastor the Rock Campus Church. As of lately, however, the Lord has been calling me deeper, calling me to slow down and to focus my energy upward toward Himself and outward toward the ones I love.

Let me tell you about how I got to where I am now.

Early Years

Growing up in blue collar suburban Cleveland, Ohio in the 1970’s and 80’s was maybe the greatest time and place to ever grow up! At 6 years old my domain for bike riding stretched miles in any direction. We rode to friends, we rode to the woods, we rode to the pool, we road to the corner store. My brother Chris, 13 months younger, and I did everything together. We fixed bikes and played every sport, mainly football, basketball and baseball. We were super active in everything. We swam, we played, we ran, we were 100% boys and we were free even at the age of 6.

We only moved once growing up. That move went flawlessly as I was transitioning in the summer between the 4th and 5th grade. We made lots of new friends on that new street and we fit in well. One thing to note that has always been my story was that even though I loved sports and played everything, I knew that I was not very good. I was a little clumsy, but I was also the smart guy of the group. That means I knew the sport better than the others but I also knew I was not as coordinated, nor fast, nor strong. This understood weakness athletically probably pushed me to become strong at something else. That something else became my wit, it became my charm, it became my overachieving life pattern so that I could win.

My intensity and passion, as I look backward, were part of my life from my earliest memories. I earned awards and honors in nearly everything I did all through school.

One of my fondest of all childhood memories is when my dad sold his 3 motorcycles and bought a boat. At age 5 we became a boating family. Dad would go on to buy and sell 10 different boats over the next 30 years. My brother and I got up on two skis at age 7 and 8 respectively. The 13 weekends of summer we spent on the boat were the best. Our family was tight. The only way to make a weekend at the lake better was to stop for ice cream on the way home. I always ordered a strawberry float.

Mr. King’s Question

In junior high I began to wrestle. Mr. King was both a shop teacher and the wrestling coach. I loved both Mr. King and wrestling. But similar to athletics at younger ages, I knew I was not very good. I knew wrestling, I knew I was a little slower than many of my opponents, I knew I was not as strong as my adversaries. This knowledge forced me to compensate in other ways. As I look back I see a crafty guy, a funny guy, a smart guy, an intense guy. I ended up just worked harder than most everyone.

I ended up wrestling for Mr. King all through junior high and then high school as he was promoted to be the high school head coach as I went from junior high to the high school. I loved wrestling for him. He clearly believed in me even though I was an average wrestler. I would run through a brick wall for him.

In 9th grade I had Mr. King as my shop teacher. That, too, was a great experience. Early December of that year, (1981) I would have the most important conversations of my life up to that point. I will never forget the day Mr. King came up to my table as I was working on a project in the shop. He asked me the question that would go on to change the way I think about everything. “John, do you think that if you died today you would go to Heaven?” I was completely hooked on the question. Having grown up in a religious home I really wanted to go to Heaven. But I had no idea! I had thought the question, but had never talked about it with anyone ever. So to be asked this paramount question brought it front and center. That question resulted in Mr. King and me talking repeatedly the next 3 days. He asked me if I had ever accepted God’s free gift of Jesus Christ? I said no. “I have never accepted Jesus into my life but I want to”. He helped me craft a prayer that I would say next to my bed that night December 7, 1981. I told Jesus that night that I believed He died on the cross for me to forgive me of my sins and that I accept Him into my heart and life. Something completely changed. I was born again. That night would completely change the trajectory of my life.

Mr. King had three boys who became my good friends: Todd, Brad and Harry. They too wrestled. They actually became like my second family. We did everything together. I ended up being in both Todd and Brad’s weddings. The King’s are still near and dear to us today.

I started to hunger for God. He was not really part of my life before that. Religiousness with little meaning was my experience. I began to thirst for God’s Word. Those first couple years were amazing! Puppy love between me and Jesus was budding. The senior in high school was becoming a loyal follower of Jesus.

The youth group I was part of was amazing. We did more than just play games. We pursued the things of God. It was tremendously meaningful and relevant.

High school was all about three things: following Jesus, wrestling and academics. I did all three with all the intensity I could muster. I had about a .500 record wrestling, I earned a 3.95 GPA through the 3 years of high school (I got a B in sophomore English), and I just grew like a weed as a young believer.

College Times

When it came time to go college I visited Bowling Green State University some two hours east of Cleveland. After the visit, the decision was easy! They had the best rec center. Of course I would go there. Plus, athletically my body was finally doing what I wanted it to do. I was faster, stronger and more coordinated at this point. I guess you would call me a late bloomer.

But the BGSU days would not be defined by mere athletics, they would be defined by continued growth in the Lord. The campus church I got involved with would become the place that many of my college friends and I would build a foundation that would set us for all these years to come. We learned to get out on our prayer trail and seek God. We would learn the Bible through hours and hours of reading. I would memorize 100’s of scripture verses which would prepare me to be a messenger. I remember as a freshman in college desiring that some day, when I grew up, I would be a pastor. The BG days were intense. I stepped out in faith in scary things and God helped me. I shared the love of Jesus with many people.

I will never forget the first time I met Amy Saxton. I think I knew from early on in our friendship that she would become my wife. All guys like to say that. But I have evidence in my journal from those days. She attended a movie night we were hosting in January of my sophomore year. I completely remember our conversation. I crushed hard on this girl but was determined to give this to the Lord. It would take 19 months for me to sense a clearance from both my close buddies and the Lord to pursue her. My 22 birthday I would ask her to spend intentional time together to see if God was putting us together. I have never been at a loss for words but that day I was. We began exploring what our future could look like and I proposed 4 weeks later. I knew what I wanted. We married 220 days later on May 27, 1989.

My first year out of college would have me working as a sales rep calling on collision shops all across NW Ohio while Amy completed her elementary education degree. Our first year of marriage was one highlight after another. We completely enjoyed ourselves!

We wondered what the future held for us? Kenny, our former pastor, was out in Missouri. He recruited us to go on staff with Great Commission Ministries to come to inherit a struggling little campus ministry. We went to support raising training the summer of 1990. The experience of initially raising support was so faith stretching. I learned to pray even more earnestly. Our desire to “live by faith” was in full motion. As I look back on the last 29 years of God providing for us financially we just laugh. God has been so faithful.

During those days we met so many amazing people! Building a network of friends and supporters has been one of the greatest benefits of being support based missionaries. I would not trade it for anything. Some people despise the support raising piece. It has been one of the greatest aspects of our lives!

Columbia, Missouri

We moved all our belongings to Columbia, MO in the Fall of 1991. Our lives were transplanted 600 miles to the west. Missouri is the state past Illinois to the west. That Fall of 1991 was a great fall for us. We had so many good folks get involved. Cannon, Todd and Chris became leaders in Tiger Christian Life. Those early foundation years of the pre-Rock ministry were so amazing. I was a young 25 year old aspiring pastoral candidate. God was at work in me, He was at work through me. I will never forget the 5 Life Groups I led in 1992. I was gathering up students any way I could. In 1993 we had a big meeting where 25 students came. Wow! We were slowly gaining steam. As those years in the 90’s kept taking shape, I was growing internally with the Lord.

A major event of pain that fall of 1991 was when Amy and I lost our first born son. John Ruben was born prematurely and died. Amy and I were devastated by this. His death however helped bring healing to Amy’s family. Amy’s mother died of cancer 10 years earlier and they needed to take the next steps of grieving. What beautiful days in hindsight.

The 1990’s roared on for us as we collected 4 children, a dream fulfilled for Amy. Josh would arrive in 1993, Jessie in 1995, Caleb in 1997 and Than in 1998. The children were so energetic, just like you would imagine little Drages would be! Amy and I would run as fast as our little feet would take us as we parented 4 kids under 5. Our house was always full of action! College students flooded our house as well! 20 year olds and 2 year olds all mixed together. As I look back on those days, I am so, so, so happy.

Amy and I purchased the 1317 Anthony house in the Spring of 1995. It would become just like the house in the movie Money Pit. We would remodel nearly everything and spend a bunch of money. This old house, that we still live in, is 400 yards away from the University of Missouri campus.

Our lives would be characterized by radical hospitality. I have a pastor friend who suggests that the number 1 requirement to be a pastor is being hospitable. For us, it is just who we are. The only thing better than 25 people watching a football game at my house is 50 people watching the game here. This home would become the backdrop for hundreds and hundreds of life giving conversations. Little did Amy I and know that this home would become such a safe place for so many students. It became a place for people to discover God’s grace. We are humbled all these years later at what God did here.

In 1998 I was ordained as a pastor. It was a massive milestone. I had recklessly given myself to the work of pastoring. The ordination was a celebration, but just the beginning of what God was starting to do. In the fall of 2000 after a ton of prayer and conversations we decided to plant The Rock Campus Church.

The Rock is Planted

I was having a nice conversation with my mother in law at Christmas in 1999. We were talking about whether to plant the Rock or not. The decision was a ways off. Just like Shirley has done to me a handful of other times, she spoke the Lord’s voice to me. Some might think it is impossible for a mother-in-law to do this, I would radically disagree. Shirley asked me what I was afraid of. She leaned right into the most tender part of me. As I looked into to this prophets eyes I knew she was a messenger. Big stuff was going on. God speaks through His servants! I knew right after that exchange that we had to start the Rock. I knew that my insecurity was not a good enough reason to not do it. I knew I needed courage which would need to come from God. So we stepped out in faith and became our own church. I was a 34 year old solo pastor with a great staff team and we went for it!

Those early years were so fun! Gathering all kinds of students and building a beautiful staff team. Training student leaders was always our work. We introduced many people to Jesus. It was an electric time of growth and love.

In 2005 we sent a team of 18 grads and a couple staff to plant a church in Los Angeles. It was our first plant and so exciting.

In 2011 we sent another team out to plant a church at the University of Pittsburgh. This was even harder because Ed Courtney led that team. He had worked for and with me for 15 years. It was a big change. God blessed us.

As the years went on I became the Director of EP LT (2002 through 2018), I would join the board of Collegiate Churches (2010 through 2018), and I would become the National Director for all of the Collegiate LT programs. If that was not enough I became a regional director and church coach. My ambition was beautiful but it was also too much.

Now (April 2019)

But as I shared earlier in the blog posts I was breaking the laws of capacity. All humans have capacity, we have limits. Some of us like to think we can break these laws. I know I did. I always knew I was a high capacity guy. I just thought I was tough. I was. But not that tough.

The new brain cancer diagnosis is another Messenger to me. It bids me to embrace capacity and not fight it. Capacity is my ally not my enemy. As I endeavor in this supposed last chapter, I hope that it would be said that John Drage learned to joyfully sit and listen to the Voice. Yes, I will run hard. It would be awesome if I was more characterized as not being in a hurry but as a lover to his children and having a keen listening ear to His God and a listening ear to His friends.

John Drage | 1966-2020

John Drage, who pastored The Rock Campus Church at Mizzou for 30 years, died Friday, May 29, 2020 at his home in Columbia, after a yearlong battle with brain cancer. He was 53. He wanted college students to know the love of Christ, and thousands of those students called him a mentor, encourager and friend. He is survived by his wife, Amy, and four children, Josh (Emily) Drage, Jessie (Zac) Siems, Caleb (Renee) Drage, and Than Drage.